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“Whatever else we may have, if we do not have character we have nothing. It is character that determines destiny.”
But these traits are the fruit of the Spirit, the result of His work within us. This means not that we bear no responsibility for the development of Christian character but rather that we fulfill our responsibility under His direction and by His enablement.
The first principle of the “habit of grace” (or what I will often call “godliness,” “godlikeness,” or “Christlikeness” in this book) is, Devotion to God is the only acceptable motive for actions that are pleasing to God.
Unfortunately, too often our motives are self-centered rather than God-centered. We want to maintain our reputation before others, or we want to feel good about ourselves. Or we may even seek to live a decent and moral life or to do good deeds because such an ethic has been instilled in us from childhood. But that motivation is never related to God and thus is not acceptable to Him.
The second principle of godly character is, The power or enablement for a godly life comes from the risen Christ.
The third principle of godly character is, Though the power for Christlike character comes from Christ, the responsibility for developing and displaying that character is ours.
We need to learn that the Bible teaches both total responsibility and total dependence in all aspects of the Christian life.
While, therefore, we grow in the Christian life by divine grace, it is our duty to grow in grace.
The fourth principle of godly character is, The development of godly character entails both putting off and putting on character traits.
But there is equal danger if we focus all our attention on such qualities as love and compassion while neglecting to deal with the vices of the sinful nature.
We are to put off the traits of the old self and put on the traits of the new. If we desire to be godly, we must not neglect either of these biblical emphases.
The fifth principle of godly character is, We are to pursue growth in all of the graces that are considered the fruit of the Spirit.
If we have an outgoing and buoyant personality, we often respond easily to the admonition to rejoice in the Lord or to be compassionate and tenderhearted. At the same time, we may find it difficult to exercise self-control or be faithful with responsibilities. Our personality type must pray more earnestly and strive more diligently for these latter graces. Above all, we must be convinced of the necessity of those graces that are most difficult to display.
The sixth principle of godly character is, Growth in all areas is progressive and never finished.
Growth in godly character not only is progressive and always unfinished, it is absolutely necessary for spiritual survival. If we are not growing in godly character, we are regressing; in the spiritual life we never stand still.
The relationship between conduct and character is an intimate one. In the form of repeated actions over time, conduct produces character.
The attitude of devotion to God is composed of three essential elements: The fear of God The love of God The desire for God
So often we try to develop Christian character and conduct without taking the time to develop God-centered devotion. We try to please God without taking the time to walk with Him and develop a relationship with Him. This is impossible to do.
Let’s consider the three essential elements of devotion: the fear of God, the love of God, and the desire for God.
For the child of God, however, the primary meaning of the fear of God is veneration and honor, reverence and awe.
The same Paul who tells us that the Holy Spirit dwelling within us causes us to cry, “Abba, Father,” also tells us that this same God lives in “unapproachable light” (Romans 8:15 and 1 Timothy 6:16).
In our day, we must begin to recover a sense of awe and profound reverence for God.
John Murray says, “What or whom we worship determines our behavior.”[8] The Reverend Albert N. Martin has said that the essential ingredients of the fear of God are (1) correct concepts of the character of God, (2) a pervasive sense of the presence of God, and (3) a constant awareness of our obligation to God.[9]
If we truly reverence God, we will obey Him, because every act of disobedience is an affront to His dignity and majesty.
How much we appreciate God’s love is conditioned by how deeply we fear Him. The more we see God in His infinite majesty, holiness, and transcendent glory, the more we will gaze with wonder and amazement upon His love poured out at Calvary. But it is also true that the deeper our perception of God’s love to us in Christ, the more profound our reverence and awe of Him.
True godliness engages our affections and awakens within us a desire to enjoy God’s presence and fellowship. It produces a longing for God Himself. The writer of Psalm 42 vividly expressed this longing when he exclaimed, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (verses 1-2).
The person who spends time with God radiates His glory in a manner that is always warm and inviting, never cold and forbidding.
Before we move on to the nine traits the apostle Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit, we must look at humility, for without humility we cannot hope to cultivate the rest of the fruit.
Not only does God commend humility in His people, our Lord displayed it in His humanity. “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8).
Humility manifests itself in our relationships — to God, to ourselves, to others. We are to be humble toward God and His Word, humble in regard to trials and blessings that come our way or abilities and achievements with which we are blessed, and humble toward other people.
Humility toward God is akin to the fear of God: It begins with a high view of God’s person.
When a believer is truly humble before God and His Word, he will also be humble about his own gifts, abilities, and attainments. He will realize and gratefully acknowledge that all that he is and all that he has comes from the hand of God.
We should ascribe any attainments, whether secular or spiritual, to the grace of God.
A believer who is humble before God will also be humble toward other people. One way this humility expresses itself is in mutual submission to one another. Paul instructs us, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21). Peter likewise says, “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another” (1 Peter 5:5), and James tells us that submissiveness is characteristic of the wisdom that comes from heaven (see James 3:17).
What does it mean to submit to one another? Does it mean always giving in to others’ demands or opinions? Not at all. It means to submit to instruction as well as correction from other believers; to be teachable or to be humble enough to admit we have erred when another believer corrects us.
Here are some practical suggestions for learning humility. Begin by renewing your mind. The best way to do this is to memorize one or more passages of Scripture, choosing those you believe address most directly your areas of greatest need.
Confess any prideful ways as the Holy Spirit convicts you and pray for sensitivity to seeing yourself as God does. Also pray for the Holy Spirit to change you inwardly. Finally, take whatever specific steps are necessary in order to obey God’s direction to humble yourself.
Love is not so much a character trait as the inner disposition of the soul that produces them all.
If we desire to be godlike and to glorify God in our lives, we must make the cultivation and exercise of love in our hearts an urgent priority.
There are three overall prayer requests I make when I pray for myself and others: that I and they would grow in holiness, humility, and love. Of these three, however, love has priority, for if I love God, I will seek to be holy, and if I love other people, I will seek to be humble, putting their interests ahead of mine.
John says in his epistle that we, too, should give even at great cost to ourselves: We should “lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16). In the context of Jesus’ sacrifice, John’s challenge to us seems overwhelming and impossible — the ultimate act of love. But John’s application is very practical and down-to-earth: He asks that we share with our brother in need. However, we are to do this out of pity and compassion, not duty. We are to put our love into practice by meeting our brother’s need — even at great cost to ourselves.
And keep in mind that material needs are not the only ones our brother has. Often he needs a listening ear, a word of encouragement, or a helping hand. But to meet those needs requires us to give of ourselves — our time, our attention, and often our heart. This can be more difficult than giving money.
Now John once again applies God’s love to our relationships with one another. He says that because God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Do we love one another enough to forgive each other, with or without apologies for wrongs done to us?
Forgiveness cost God His Son on the cross, but what does it cost us to forgive one another? Forgiving costs us our sense of justice. We all have this innate sense deep within our souls, but it has been perverted by our selfish, sinful natures. We want to see “justice” done, but the justice we envision satisfies our own interests. We must realize that justice has been done. God is the only rightful administrator of justice in all of creation, and His justice has been satisfied. In order to forgive our brother, we must be satisfied with God’s justice and forego the satisfaction of our own.
Love is more than a mere act of the will. Going back again to Bethune’s definition, love is a vigorous spirit that rules the whole man, ever directing him to the humble and loving fulfillment of his duties to God and man. We should do more than just decide to do acts of love: we should desire to do them.
One of the most common hindrances to joy is sin in our lives, or sinful attitudes in our hearts. Christian joy is essentially the enjoyment of God, the fruit of communion with Him. Sin obviously breaks that communion and the enjoyment of His presence.
Another stumbling block to joy is misplaced confidence. Paul told the Philippian Christians to “rejoice in the Lord” (3:1). He then made it clear that the opposite of rejoicing in the Lord is to put confidence in the flesh — in our good works or religious attainment. For the believers of Paul’s day, it was Jewish legalism. For us today, it might be our personal disciplines, such as a regular quiet time, a consistent Scripture memory program, or faithfulness in witnessing to non-Christians. Whatever it is, if the source of our confidence is anything other than Jesus Christ and His grace, it is
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Perhaps you don’t feel you have much to show for your life. Maybe you haven’t written a book, or seen scores come to Christ through your witness, or done anything else that seems significant. But is your name written in heaven? If it is, you have as much reason to rejoice as the most well-known and “successful” Christian.
A third area that can choke off joy in our lives is the chastening or discipline that God often administers to His children. Scripture says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful” (Hebrews 12:11).
The secret of maintaining some semblance of joy in the midst of discipline is to remember that “the Lord disciplines those he loves,” and that “later on, however, it [the discipline] produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:6,11).
